"America
is
the epitome of freedom and democracy, the best form of government the
world has ever
known. The world idolizes our freedoms and democracy."

"America is the freest
nation on Earth. Freedom is what makes America great."

"It's
a free
country."

These
statements about freedom and democracy
are programmed into the American populace, who are taught to chant them
like
religious mantras without thought or examination. America touts itself
to be
the epitome of freedom and democracy that the world idolizes and
envies,
insinuating that the rest of the world has no freedom except America.
Such myths
are ingrained into the minds of the American people as religious truths
that
are unquestionable and universally agreed upon. They are pretty much an
“American
religion”, no different than Christian fundamentalists believing
that the Bible
is the infallible word of God simply because they are told so.

Yet any
cursory examination of international reality
and cultures, as well as travel experience, exposes the fiction of this
myth.
In short, the statements above are statements of fanatical religious
belief,
not objective facts. There is no evidence to support them, and a ton of
evidence to refute them.

In this
essay we will go over many of the reasons,
evidence and comparisons why this belief is a mere myth. We are not
promoting
anti-Americanism here, but merely exposing the truth. We will compare
fact vs.
fiction, reality vs. BS, truth vs. propaganda, and experience vs.
illusion.
Truth is our bottom line, not conformity, because such propagandic
myths are the
antithesis to a free-thinking and truth-seeking mind.

The main
question to ask is: Why does
America perpetuate the myth that it is the only country in the world
that has
"freedom" and indoctrinates its citizens with this belief, when this
is not supported by any facts, not agreed by the rest of the world or
even by
well-traveled Americans?

We will
get into the reasons later. First, let's
dissect these myths and see how they match up to facts, commmon sense
and real
life experiences.

Democracy debunked

“America
is the epitome of freedom and
democracy.”

"We can have democracy in this country, or
we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we
can't have both."
- Louis D. Brandeis, Supreme Court Judge

We will
get into freedom later, but for now,
let's address the democracy issue.Technically, a democracy is defined as a "rule by the
majority".Hollywood, the media and
our education system all chant that America is the epitome of democracy
as
though it were a Gospel Truth that is universally agreed upon (but it
is not by
far). It is so ingrained in our culture that most never dare to
question it.

The
founding fathers never intended America to
be a democracy and in fact didn't even believe in one. Most Americans
would be
shocked to learn this. Anyone who casually researches the American form
of
government and its founding in the late 18th Century will see that
technically,
America was not set up as a democracy but as a Constitutional Republic.

A Republic
is "rule by law" and tends
to be the most just and stable form of government, protecting the
rights of its
citizens while limiting the power of government to a minimal level.
Here are
some great videos that explain the difference between a Republic and a
Democracy:

The first
video above contains quotes from the
founding fathers expressing their thoughts on democracy, which you will
see was
anything but positive.

In fact,
there is no mention of the word
"democracy" in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution.
Even the Pledge of Allegiance cited by school children mentions that
America is
a Republic:

"I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America, and to the Republic for which it
stands, one
nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

The
founding fathers were intellectual elites
who knew their history. They knew that a democracy was unsustainable,
for it
was in essence a rule by a lawless mob. The fundamental flaw in a
true
democracy is that the majority is unrestrained.

Critics of
democracy use this revealing analogy:"Democracy
is like three wolves and one
sheep voting on what's for dinner." In other words, if 51 percent of
the
population voted to harm or seize the property of the other 49 percent,
who's
going to protect the 49 percent? This reveals the inherent flaw in
democracy,
which America does not dare bring light to.

In fact,
the US Constitution and Bill of Rights
were designed to PROTECT you FROM a democracy! (Most Americans would
flip if
they heard that) For example, in a true democracy, or a "rule by
majority",
if most people in your town voted to seize your property and hang you,
your
assets would be confiscated and you'd be hanged. Simple as that. But in
a
Republic with a Constitution of rights, your rights and property are
protected
by law. If you are accused of anything, you have the right to a fair
trial.
That's how a Republic works. And that's how it PROTECTS you from a true
democracy.

The
ancient Greeks tried having a true
democracy, but it failed, led to chaos and eventually to oligarchy.
Even the
greatest Greek philosopher, Socrates, did not believe in a true
democracy. He
advocated that the wisest and most virtuous rule society, not the
common
populace. In Plato's great work "The Republic", Socrates likened a
"democracy" to the crew of a ship committing mutiny against their
captain and taking the helm. In such a scenario, the ship, run by "the
mob", would never be run efficiently nor get to its proper destination,
as
the mutineers would constantly bicker, quarrel and change their minds.
There would
be no order. The ship would be blown around by the wind, so to speak.

So why
doesn't a true democracy work, you might
ask? Well you see, most people are followers, not leaders or thinkers.
They are
emotional, not logical or rational. Being gullible, they are changeable
on a
whim, quick to jump to conclusions, and not wise. A true democracy is
like
having a mob take control (as in Socrates' example above) without laws
or
protection. It is neither efficient, stable nor sustainable. And
besides, there
is no logical reason to presuppose that the majority is always right
either,as
these quotes attest to:

“The object in life
is not to be on the side
of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the
insane.” -
Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor

"The men the American
public admire
most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most
violently are those who try to tell them the truth." - H. L. Mencken

"Insanity in individuals is
something
rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule." -
Frederich Nietzsche

"Ninety-nine percent of the
people in
the world are fools, and the rest of us are in great danger of
contagion."
- Thornton Wilder

"Whenever
people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong." — Oscar Wilde

Though on
paper, America began as a
Constitutional Republic, it gradually evolved into a form of oligarchy
(rule by
the elite), plutocracy (rule by the rich) and corporatocracy (rule by
corporations). These terms are more accurate to describe America's
governance
than the term "democracy". Any unbrainwashed observer can see why.
Yet the elite continue to perpetuate the democracy propaganda to
instill
patriot religious pride and fervor in its citizens, to get their
compliance and
obedience (ironically). They see it as a "necessary illusion" as Noam
Chomsky, the renowned intellectual and American critic, would say.

This
eloquent clip from the 1976 film Network
hits the nail on the head about why America is a corporatocracy,
and why
ideologies no longer exist, only corporations do.

Nevertheless,
there are some who will try to
argue that America is a "representative democracy" or a
"Constitutional democracy". And in fact the school system uses such
terms too. But this is just a play on semantics and grasping at straws
in an
attempt to try to insert the word "democracy" into the equation to
try to validate the cherished belief that America is a democracy. But
either way
you look at it, America cannot be a democracy because in a democracy,
the
majority rules, and in America the majority certainly does not rule in
any way,
for so many reasons (we can't even cover them all here). Rather, the
majority
in America are masses of sheeple the elite control and manipulate in
the
interest of the economy and their agenda.

In
addition, consider the following:

a)
According to polls, most Americans do not
feel that they have a say in their government or its policies, and do
not feel
that their vote even matters. (Hence voter turnout during elections
tends to be
under 50 percent) There is a good reason for that. The government and
the elite
who run it often act in contrary to the will of the people.

For
example, most Americans did not want the
Vietnam War or the Iraq War, yet the US leaders insisted on them and
shoved
them down our throats, with the help of the media of course (see the
film
"War Made Easy" on Google Video). People also do not want higher
taxes, yet the government continually raises them.

So, if a
democracy is a "rule by
majority" then how come most people feel they have no say in the
country's policy
making, either foreign or domestic? That says a lot, yet most Americans
still
believe the democracy myth. (Fortunately though, with the surge in the
conspiracy movement and the internet, more Americans are beginning to
wake up
everyday)

b)
According to the historical track record, no
matter who holds the office of President - whether Democrat or
Republican,
Conservative or Liberal - US policies, both foreign and domestic,
remains the
same.Thus, critics liken the whole
political system to a show or theater, since the power networks that
own both
parties really represent the same interests. The system is designed to
maintain
the illusion of democracy, to appease the gullible dumbed down
public.

Therefore,
people don't really have a say in
the policies their government sets. They are simply given the chance to
elect
Presidents every four years, and Congressmen and Senators every few
years, as
an illusion of some control in the democratic process. In reality
though, no
matter who gets elected, the power networks (corporate giants, banking
elite,
military industrial complex, secret societies, etc.) make sure they are
in
control. They are the real masters, not the President of the United
States, who
is merely a fall guy.

Why do you
think that US Presidents tend to
reneg on their campaign promises that won them the election? Do you
think any
man likes going back on his word and breaking his promises in front of
the
whole country's population? I don't think so. It's obviously because he
has no
choice, since he's not really at the top of the hierarchy and cannot do
whatever he wants. He is controlled by a "shadow network", where his
real allegiance lies. Otherwise he wouldn't be in office, or he better
submit
to them if he wants to remain in office, lest he suffer the
consequences (as
JFK, our last real President, did, which was a warning to all that
followed).

The elite
merely need to present the illusion
of democracy to appease the masses. And they do it by giving you the
charade of
political elections, and calling it "democracy". All they have to do
is control the tiny pool of candidates that you have to choose from, in
one
form or another, and they remain in power, NOT you. That is why no
matter who
is elected, policies (including covert ones) remain the same.

Of course,
the elite themselves don't believe
in a democracy either, for a true democracy would usurp their power.
Therefore,
they are knowingly spreading myths that they don't believe themselves,
which is
both hypocritical and deceitful.

c)
Immigrants and foreigners from other
countries do not usually say "Wow we have so much freedom and democracy
in
America which we never had in our own native country" as Hollywood
portrays. Go ahead and ask them yourself. They do not come to America
for its
freedoms or democracy, but to earn the almighty dollar and pursue
career
opportunities. In reality, most in the rest of the world do not see
America as
an "ideal democracy" but many do see it as an ideal country for
making money and pursuing higher career opportunities.

Furthermore,
it is not true that most people in
the rest of the world want to live in America.Immigrants to the US are predominantly from Asia or Mexico, who
come to
make money, not for "freedom".In fact, a large percentage of immigrants regret coming to
America,
feeling lonely and isolated and wishing they were back in their
homeland, which
the US media never covers of course.For
examples in their own words, see these testimonials from Little
India
magazine:

Of course,
America does not bother to try to
explain away any of these major discrepancies. It doesn't have to. It
only
needs to keep the public dumbed down with mass entertainment, and busy
with
working and consuming, to be left alone to do whatever it wants.
America
doesn't really care if you see through its lies, and it knows that
dissidents
will always exist. You can say or think whatever you want, as long as
you don't
DO anything to upset its power or agenda.

And that
brings us to the next myth...

Freedom debunked

“America
is the freest nation on Earth. Freedom
is what makes America great.”

This one
really takes the cake. The phrase “Freedom
is what makes America great” implies that other countries do not
have freedom,
and that freedom is unique to America, which is so laughable that it
insults
the intelligence of any international traveler.

First of
all, most countries in the world are
not dictators under martial law like American movies show. They have
most of the
same freedoms, and more, but with LESS anal laws and regulations than
America
does. In most countries, as long as you don’t break the laws, you
are free to
do what you want and go wherever you want. How is that any different
than in
America? You tell me. The only way America could claim to be freer is
if there
were more, not less, laws and regulations in most countries. But as
anyone who
has owned a business in the US and other countries will tell you,
America has
far MORE, NOT LESS, laws and regulations than most countries do! That
right
there BLOWS this myth out of the water.

But there
are many other facts and reasons that
go against this myth, so we haven’t even begun yet.

Even as a
school kid, I always thought it was
odd that we were constantly told that "America is the freest country on
Earth" yet I was forced to go to school, do homework everyday, and
would
get a "detention slip" if I wasn't in class when the bell rang. My
everyday life did not seem "free" at all, yet I was constantly told
that it was, as though it were a religion.

This
fanatical claim is not supported by
anything except the US media, Hollywood and education system. It has no
actual
substance or basis to it, and it makes no sense either. It is nothing
more than
a religion.

What is
very revealing is that only those
Americans who have never left their country for long believe in these
myths,
whereas American expats who have lived in multiple countries or are
well-traveled (including me) do NOT, but in fact KNOW from firsthand
experience
that they are hogwash. Now what does that tell you?

Now, if
America were truly free, do you think
it would constantly have to boast about it to reassure itself? Such
blatant
boistering is usually the mark of an insecurity or inferiority complex,
not the
sign of a happy free people. As one of my forum members wrote:

“As a person of intelligence
doesn't need to tell others he is
intelligent, a truly free society doesn't need to be told it is
free.”

In fact,
America is alone in believing that it
is the epitome of freedom. The rest of the world does not share this
myth about
America. Even fascist regimes, dictators and terrorists do not see
America as a
"free country" (contrary to what Hollywood and the US media
misportray). Rather, they see America as an Imperial Empire trying to take
away the freedoms of the rest of the world, and attempting to
dominate and
control everyone to take advantage of their resources! (they did that
to the
Native American Indians, so why wouldn't they do that with the rest of
the
world too?) No one hates America for its
freedoms, as President George Bush, the pathological liar, claimed.

For some
reason, Hollywood and the US media
perpetuate this bizarre stereotypical image that ALL countries outside
the US
are living under facist regimes governed by martial law, with soldiers
and
machine guns pointed at everyone, keeping them in terror, and that
America is
the only country free from all that. This is totally bogus and
laughable, yet
many Americans seriously believe it, sadly enough.

Most
countries do NOT live under fascist
dictatorships, yet America tries to make it look like they are the only
country
that is not under a dictatorship. They try to do that by comparing
itself with the
worst examples of dictatorial regimes, just like any sleazy advertiser
does,
rather than with mainstream examples to be more accurate. Any rational
person
knows that to get more accurate and logical comparisons, you need to
compare typical
examples from both sides.

American
media and movies insinuate all the
time that all foreign countries are under oppressive fascist regimes,
while
America alone fights for freedom and democracy. This is extremely
inaccurate
and does not reflect reality at all. Yet America will NEVER confront
this fact
of course, for it destroys its own propaganda.

Hollywood
is also fond of portraying all
immigrants as idolizing America's freedom, and all terrorists as
jealous of
America's freedom and plotting to eliminate its threat to fascism.

For
instance, in the 1985 film Invasion USA
starring Chuck Norris, an army of terrorists break into Florida during
the
Christmas Season. While parked in a suburban neighborhood, the leader
of the
terrorists looks around at families celebrating Christmas in their
homes, and
then mutters something about "Americans enjoying their freedom" (in
accordance with the myth that America's enemies hate its freedoms)
before using
a bazooka to blow up some homes. For some reason, Hollywood likes to
portray
America's myths rather than reality and is the epitome of stereotypes.
Call
that a conspiracy if you like.

Now let's
dissect the concept of America being
"the freest country".

What does
America mean by "free"
exactly?That you are free to do
whatever you want without any laws or rules?Certainly not!As in every
country, America has many laws, regulations and controls that you must
abide
under.Such vary from country to country
of course, but there is no evidence to suggest that America's laws are
much
more lax than that of most countries.On
the contrary, government regulations are much more stringent in
America, which
is one reason why corporations are outsourcing, besides cheaper labor
costs.

In
reality, in most countries, is that as long
as you have money for transportation and accommodation, and you don't
break any
laws, you are "free" to go wherever you want on public lands, visit
any attractions you like, eat, drink and be merry.So how is that any different in America?What
exactly are you "free" to do
in America that you can't do anywhere else?

In fact,
arguably, since America is one of the
most expensive countries in the world to live or travel in, one's
purchasing
power is diminished there, whereas it is multiplied much greater in
third world
countries. Thus, one's ability to "purchase their freedom" is greatly
diminished in the US. So if you define freedom by purchasing power,
then in
that sense the US is "less free" than cheaper third world countries
where your purchasing power would be much greater. Any expat living in
third
world countries (e.g. Philippines, Thailand, Costa Rica, etc.) will
tell you
this.And sorry Hollywood and CNN, but
virtually none of these expats will say that they are "less free"
outside the US.In fact, they tend to
say that they are "more free" outside the US, which shatters
Hollywood's stereotypical propaganda.

(You might
also be surprised to know that no
one I’ve met who’s been to the Middle East reports that it
is less free than in
America, despite the extreme black and white Islamic laws there. They
all
report that the US media’s image of the Middle East is total BS.
And in fact,
Arabs from the Middle East do not consider America to be
“freer” than where
they came from, since they define “freedom” differently.
However, funnily
enough, one freedom they do have in the Middle East, that you
don’t have in
America, is that they can show up for a job late and not worry about
getting
fired; they will only get their pay docked.)

Here are
some examples from eloquent expat
letters. As you can see, they definitely feel freer and happier in
other
countries. (So much for Hollywood's propaganda)

In
addition, many countries have freedoms not
possible in America. For example, Holland has far more liberal laws
regarding
drugs and prostitution, and is far less prudish or puritannical about
sex than
America. In Europe in general, there is more of a lively social scene
and
connectedness, giving you the "freedom" to meet more people, make
more friends and socialize more, contrary to the US environment where
strangers
do not usually speak to each other except for business purposes, where
"every man is an island", where there is an "ice barrier"
between strangers, and where people are paranoid of each other. In
addition, in
most countries, a man can flirt with a girl, woo her, or ask her out
without
feeling like a "creep" or "predator", unlike in America.

In Latin
America, one can dance freely or hold
salsa fiestas out in their neighborhood on a whim, whereas in America
it would
be inappropriate and out of bounds. Also, in Russia and many other
countries,
one can walk around outside drinking beer, whereas in the US that is
illegal. So
you see, there are many "freedoms" that are only possible outside the
US. Thus the American assumption that "Anything not possible in America
is
not possible anywhere else cause America is the greatest in all things"
is
factually false.

See this
comparison chart for many revealing
examples of freedoms, pleasures and benefits overseas you can't get in
America,
which I and many others have experienced firsthand:

Jeremy
Rifkin, author of The European Dream,
sums up the difference between the idea of "freedom" in Europe vs.
America, explaining why the European concept is more evolved and
progressive:

(Pages 13 – 14)

"The American and European
dreams are, at
their core, about two diametrically opposed ideas of freedom and
security. Americans hold a negative definition of what it means
to be
free and, thus, secure. For us, freedom has long been associated
with
autonomy. If one is autonomous, he or she is not dependent on
others or
vulnerable to circumstances outside of his or her control. To be
autonomous, one needs to be propertied. The more wealth one
amasses, the
more independent one is in the world. One is free by becoming
self-reliant and an island unto oneself. With wealth comes
exclusivity,
and with exclusivity comes security.

The new European Dream,
however, is based on a
different set of assumptions about what constitutes freedom and
security.
[b]For Europeans, freedom is not found in autonomy but in
embeddedness.
To be free is to have access to a myriad of interdependent
relationships with
others.[/b] The more communities one has access to, the more
options and
choices one has for living a full and meaningful life. With
relationships
comes inclusivity, and with inclusivity comes security."

The
popular phrase by ignorant Americans,
"It's a free country" is often used to justify doing whatever they
want. Yet it's one of the stupidest statements ever. When I was in
junior high,
kids who picked on me or bullied me would use the "It's a free
country" excuse to do whatever they wanted to me. It was totally
moronic.
There is no "free country" that lets the common person do whatever
they want, especially to others. Every country has many laws, rules and
regulations. It appalls me how easily brainwashed people are.

So what
exactly are you "free" to do
in America that you can't do anywhere else? America doesn't answer this
important question. But I'll take a crack at it. Let's see...

You are
free to work and make more money than
you can in most countries, yeah, but the high cost of living offsets
that. In
fact, Americans are more in debt than those in any other country, and
most
Americans live paycheck to paycheck and are one paycheck away from
being broke.
Most do not own their own homes, but have mortgaged it, making
themselves
slaves to the bank. Is that freedom?

You have
individual rights under the
Constitution, yeah, but in most countries, especially Europe and
Australia,
human rights exist too. Most countries do not have the extreme human
rights
abuses shown in the US media. But let's get real here. In any country,
those in
power seek to keep their power and control, not protect its citizens'
rights.
It's the same in the US. There can never be truly clean ethics as long
as money
can be used to influence and control things.

Americans
like to boast that they have freedom
of speech and that they can speak out against their own government and
leaders
legally, without getting arrested, whereas in all other countries,
doing so
will get you arrested or shot. But again, this is misleading. While it
is true
that you are legally allowed to speak out against the government in
America,
the truth is also that in most countries you are also allowed the same,
(albeit
a few fascist regimes) as long as you don't actually DO anything to
interfere
with the government's power and control.

The same
applies in America. You can think what
you want, engage in activism and protest, and write whatever you want
(like I'm
doing here), as long as you don't actually get in the way of the elite
networks
and corporatocracy that run it. If you do, you will be subject to
punishment or
imprisonment, and if you are a popular leader capable of making big
waves you
can even be assassinated (e.g. Martin Luther King Jr, JFK, RFK).

So
essentially, it's the same thing. The only
difference is that citizens of other nations can see the state of their
freedom
the way it really is, whereas Americans are under the delusion that
they have a
special status as "the freest nation on Earth".

Sure,
there are some countries like communist
China or North Vietnam where dissidence is not tolerated and leads to
incarceration, but these are extreme examples, and do NOT apply to most
of the
200+ countries in the world. Besides, it is misleading to compare only
with the
worst examples out there, as the US media and Hollywood does. It would
be more
accurate to compare typical examples of most countries rather than the
most
extreme ones just to support your agenda, but America doesn't do that
obviously, for truth and reality are not its highest aim.

Either
way, being able to legally speak out
against the government does not make America the "freest nation on
Earth" as its propagandists preach. Besides, there are a lot more
"freedoms" important to life than just being able to speak out
against the government, which is just one thing in the broad spectrum
of life.

Australia
and most of Europe, for example, have
the same basic "freedoms" that Americans do, if not more. Yet they do
not go around boasting that they are the "freest nation in the world"
for all to follow, nor do they invade other countries under the false
pretense
of fighting for freedom. They are much more down to earth and real
about it.
It's America that has these pumped up delusions which it tries to force
onto
the rest of the world. Americans seem to have an inferiority complex
that makes
them need to overstate and flaunt their patriotism and importance to
the world.
It's a sad thing that indicates a lack of true wholeness inside the
American
psyche. As I've always said, America is a very fragmented and
disconnected
country, both psychologically and sociologically. You can see that in
its
citizens and the complete lack of human or social connection in its
environment.

In
reality, most of us conform to schedules and
routines set by others, and submit to authority of some kind. As
children we
conform to school and submit to its authority, schedules, rules and
workload.
As adults, we submit to the same in the corporations that employ us.
Most are
not "free" to wake up and do whatever they want, especially not in an
expensive workaholic country like America. That's life. So what is
"freedom" exactly? That's the big existential question.

Since we
are all under someone else's control
for the most part, in one way or another, there is no "true freedom".
Most of the world realizes this. It's Americans that do not, instead
living
under the delusion that they are a free country and a free people, and
that the
rest of the world envies them and wishes they could immigrate there to
attain
"freedom", despite evidence to the contrary.

So why
then, do Americans believe this myth
about their exclusivity to freedom when it has no basis in reality and
makes no
sense? Well I can only surmise that:

a) Most
people are followers, not leaders,
visionaries or independent thinkers. They are unable to think for
themselves,
and believe that authority = truth, majority = right, and conformity =
security.
They conform to what they've been programmed and brainwashed with. Even
if
their indoctrinations conflict with their everyday experiences and
feelings,
they will still hold to it, even if it's self-contradictory or doesn't
add up.

b) Since
America is a lonely country where one
can only depend on oneself and is socially isolating and segregated as
well,
with social disconnectedness as the norm, people naturally feel empty
inside
and need something to believe in,
whether it's a religion or blind patriotism in being the freest country
in the
world. Otherwise they have no motivation to feel proud and continue
being
slaves and consumers of the system. Ironically, though you are expected
to be
independent and autonomous in America, you are expected to conform to
the "herd
mentality" mentioned above. It's a silent contradiction that America
never
bothers to resolve, cause obviously, America isn't interested in
intellectual
debates over truth, but in profit, power and control.

c) The
elite have a vested interest in
promoting this illusion. It instills pride in the population, dumbs
them down,
keeps them ignorant about the rest of the world, and gets them to
comply with
US foreign policy, including military aggression overseas (tragically)
and
hostile takeover of foreign lands, under the guise of freedom and
democracy. This
is especially the case if you are in the armed forces, in which case
you need
to be fully indoctrinated into believing that you are fighting for
freedom and
democracy, in order to instill absolutely loyalty in you, even if in
reality
you are on the side of evil engaging in an act of military aggression
and
hostile takeover for profit and power, bombing innnocent civilians in
the
process. Otherwise you wouldn't follow orders to fight, risk your life
or kill
others, if you knew the truth.

True
freedom is measured by the degree to which you can do what you want you
in life
without control or interference from others. It is not determined by
what the
government, media or culture says. If you aren't doing what you want in
life,
then it doesn't matter who is in your government, you are not free. Of
course,
commitments such as jobs, marriage, children and paying off a house,
can also
hamper your freedom to do whatever you want everyday. So, if you value
true
freedom, the less commitments the better.

But this is not what society teaches about freedom. Instead, it teaches
that
freedom means being "free to work" and being "free from foreign
dictatorships" (though local ones are ok). And of course, it teaches
that
you are free simply because your culture tells you that you are. But
that's not
the measure of true personal freedom.

Hypocrisy
of freedom of speech

What’s
ironic is that in America, you are told
that you have freedom of speech, but if
you question what you are told, such as the religious myths above, you
will be
deemed a heretic.In other words, "you have freedom of
speech as long as you believe what you are told and don't question it."
What could be more of an oxymoron than that?!

This is
ultimate hypocrisy and a direct
contradiction that America cannot reconcile. There are many such
contradictions. For example, Capitalism is said to be based on
Christian values
and ethics, yet it teaches that greed is good whereas Christian
Scripture
clearly teaches that greed is evil. But you are not supposed to
question such
things. So much for freedom of speech.

But then
again, America sees freedom of speech
as essentially harmless. Talking can't hurt after all, unless of course
you do
something about it. And America knows that most people are passive.
They may
talk the dissident talk, but most will never do anything about it, and
that's
the bottom line to the elite.

It’s
a tricky form of mind control where you
are deceived into thinking that you are free, when in reality you are
mind
controlled. The great intellectual American critic, Noam Chomsky,
explained in
his film Manufacturing Consent that since America does not have
a totalitarian
government militarily, the elite must control the masses’ thoughts
instead. Therefore, they are engaging in a form of “totalitarian
thought
control” rather than by military rule. This means that they gain
control of you
one way or another.

Wars
and your patriotic duty to support them

Since the
industrial
era, America has had a tendency to start wars and invade countries
claiming to
spread freedom and democracy. When it does, it declares that it is
everyone’s patriotic
duty to support all wars it gets involved in, even if you disagree with
them.

However,
many great thinkers have realized that
patriotism is an idiocy and antithesis to reason. Here are some great
quotes:

“Patriotism is your
conviction that this
country is superior to all other countries because you were born in
it.”

- George Bernard Shaw

“Patriotism is the
willingness to kill and be
killed for trivial reasons.”

- Bertrand Russell

“Patriotism is the
virtue of the vicious.”

- Oscar Wilde

“Can anything be
stupider than that a man has
the right to kill me because he lives on the other side of a river and
his
ruler has a quarrel with mine, though I have not quarrelled with
him?”

- Blaise Pascal

“Patriotism in its
simplest, clearest, and most
indubitable signification is nothing else but a means of obtaining for
the
rulers their ambitions and covetous desires, and for the ruled the
abdication
of human dignity, reason, and conscience, and a slavish enthralment to
those in
power.”

- Leo Tolstoy

You might
think that myths about freedom and
democracy are harmless beliefs that merely instill pride in people. But
it goes
beyond that. These myths also serve the function of garnering public
compliance
when America gets involved in wars or invades other countries and
occupies
them, such as Iraq, killing millions of innocent people for profit,
greed and
power, or other ulterior motives.

What the
religion of patriotism says is that it
is your duty to support all US sponsored wars even if it is in the
wrong or are
"the bad guys" in the conflict. Anyone who doesn't is condemned as
"unpatriotic" or a heretic. Even celebrities and public officials are
afraid to speak out against the Iraq War for fear of jeopardizing their
position and careers. (so much for free speech) America uses a sick
form of
mind control that insinuates that if you are loyal to your country, you
will
support all its wars and invasions, even when it is in the wrong or on
the side
of evil. Otherwise, you are seen as a "traitor" and there is
something wrong with you.

In
essence, what America is saying is that
loyalty and patriotism are above truth, justice and even life itself.
It is
willing to sacrifice innocent lives, including its own, and spread
lies, for
its diabolical purposes. This is plain wrong as well as evil. It is the
total
antithesis of freedom and justice. As a chilling reminder, Hitler also
did the
same.

In doing
so, America again contradicts itself
in claiming freedom of speech, while at the same time forbidding you to
question what it preaches. In effect, America is saying "You are free,
but
you are required to agree with everything we say and do without
question",
which is total hypocrisy.

The elite
understand that they must hide their
motives for getting involved in wars all the time. If the public was
told the
truth, that America's wars are about power, greed, control and
acquisition, the
American people would not be willing to risk the lives of its troops.
That's
why the sheeple have to be deceived. The elite behind the military
industrial
complex know that they are lying, but believe that they can get away
with it
because they are at the top of the pyramid, have a "God complex" and
are "above the law".

Those
serving in the armed forces are the most
brainwashed. If you watch documentaries about the life of US troop
stationed in
Iraq or Naval personnnel stationed in ships off the coast of Iraq, you
will see
that everyday they are constantly drilled with lies and propaganda that
they
are there to fight for freedom and democracy, and that they are heros
and
liberators of Iraq. I pity these folks the most, for in reality they
are
sacrificing their life, limb and sanity for greed, profit and power,
which no
sane person would knowingly do. The military is a fascist hierarchical
organization and its subjects have no choice but to conform to whatever
they
are told. Despite their honorable intentions, they are the epitome of
gullibility. They've been transformed into non-thinking robots, which
is a
total degradation to their humanity.

What those
in the armed forces, or considering
joining it, need to understand is that when you join the military, you
are not
serving your country. You are serving a cabal that wishes to destroy
and
enslave others, including you and your own family.

The 2009
blockbuster film Avatar
accurately portrays the motives of US military aggression. In the film,
the US
Marines are sent to plummage forests in an alien world to mine special
minerals
that sell for "20 million a kilo". To do so, they had to move alien
tribes off their lands in order to plunder their forest and cut down
their main
"tree of life". The film is honest in revealing the motives of both
sides. What was unusual about this film was that the US Marine Colonel
was honest
to his men and told them upfront that they were fighting to mine
minerals for
profit, not to spread “freedom and democracy”. And as you
learn about the blue
alien tribe, you understand the sacredness and beauty of their life,
and the
living energy of the forest. With this reveals, it becomes apparent
that it
would be wrong and inhumane to destroy it all in the name of corporate
profit.
With this revealed, the viewer's conscience naturally sides with the
blue alien
tribes, who are the victims in the conflict, and realizes that the US
military
are the aggressors and "the bad guys" in the conflict. Thus the
audience begins cheering when the tide of the battle turns and the US
military
starts getting wasted, since after all they are "the bad guys" in the
wrong and on the side of evil. This film is marvelous for many reasons
(such as
its 3D feature), but it is groundbreaking in that it reveals that truth
and
life are ultimately more significant than patriotism and loyalty.

Similarly,
the 1990 film Dances with Wolves
starring Kevin Costner depicted the same accuracy in its portrayal of
the
conquest of the American frontier. When Dunbar (Costner) bonds with the
Sioux
tribe and begins to understand them and become one of them, the US
Cavalry is
revealed for what they really are, instruments of aggression and
plunder who
steal lands from Native Americans and commit atrocities against the
innocent to
achieve such ends. When the viewer understands this, he/she naturally
sides
with the plight of the Sioux tribe. So when Dunbar is rescued by his
new Sioux
brothers near the end, the audience cheers as the US Cavalry men are
taken out,
who by then are seen as "the bad guys".

I applaud
such films for their accurate
portrayal of the motives of the US military, and for showing the light
of truth
and compassion over blind patriotism and loyalty.

Conclusion

So you
see, America's religious myths about
freedom and democracy, which it considers to be Gospel Truth and
indoctrinates
into its sheeple, is essentially baseless and not supported by facts or
reality
upon casual examination.These myths are
a religion, nothing more.Many logical
reasons and comparisons from ordinary examples and experiences have
been
presented here to debunk these myths.

America
does not address the hard questions
posed in this essay, nor the fact that so much of reality contradicts
the
propaganda and myths it spreads, but treats them as nonexistent.
Instead,
America merely throws its propaganda at you, knowing that most people
will buy
it and ignoring the few that don't (unless they get in the way), then
offers
you a life of pursuing a career (aka becoming a corporate slave),
consuming to
help the economy, and dumbs you down with forms of mass entertainments.
That's
all American life is. It's not about truth or answering the hard
questions.
It's about serving the profit system and corporatocracy. If you don't
like it,
America doesn't care, as long as you don't get in the way.

What we
can conclude then, based on all the
above, is that "freedom" and "government by the people" are
illusions.They don't need to actually
exist.The public merely needs to be
given the illusion of freedom and democracy.

But
unfortunately for America and its
controllers, truth tends to be self-evident and surfaces sooner or
later.Every time the public finds out that
they've
been lied to, their trust in government greatly decreases.Without trust, foundations crumble, as we
have been seeing in America recently.That's how great empires fall, such as Rome.They collapse on the inside first.We
are already beginning to see that
happening with the American Empire, as more and more of its citizens
become
disillusioned with it.

In short,
America is reaping the consequences
of its self-destructive behaviors and ways, and in due time, the
consequences
of its deceptions and brainwashing on its own population will manifest
as well,
as truth eventually comes out.That is,
unless it decides to make amends and change its ways of exploiting
others for
profit, power and gain, and using lies and myths to cover for its
crimes and
wrongdoings.

But alas,
people do not like to change their
ways, especially if they are at the top of the pyramid, in which case
they have
a vested self-interest in maintaining the status quo.

The Roman
Empire was also imperialistic,
conquering lands belonging to others to expand its power and control
through
military aggression and forcing others to submit to its regime. The
difference
is that Rome was honest about its intentions, whereas America isn't.
America
claims its imperialism is about promoting freedom and democracy. That's
why
America doesn't like to refer to itself as an "Empire" or use the
world "Imperial" to describe itself, for such terms contradict its
self-ascribed myth that it stands for freedom and democracy (but in
reality of
course, it stands for power, acquisition, control, dominance and greed).

It's a
pity that America doesn't see the wisdom
of one of its own children's parables known as The Boy Who Cried
Wolf,
which teaches that consequences of lying is the destruction of one's
own
credibility and mistrust from others. If America had heeded this simple
parable, it wouldn't be in the mess it is today. But of course, power
corrupts
and absolute power corrupts absolutely. We've seen that throughout
history, and
America is no exception.

The game
of America's elite has always been to
induce conformity in the population while at the same time maintaining
the
illusion of freedom and democracy. It's a delicate game that is
self-contradictory, which intelligent freethinkers can easily see
through. As a
result, the elite have had to find ways to weaken the public, dumb them
down,
and distract them. They've done this by segregating the populace,
making its
citizens paranoid of each other, emphasizing competitiveness, and
distracting
you with mindless mass entertainment and promoting a rampant consumer
lifestyle.

But alas,
they are playing a losing game and
are losing their grip.God only knows
what they will resort to next.Those in
power do not give it up easily, and will not go down without a vicious
fight.Let's hope that whatever changes,
revolutions or awakenings that are coming next will occur as peacefully
as
possible.

I pray that the public becomes informed,
enlightened, intellectual and wise, so that history does not repeat
itself. As it
is said, "Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat
it."Hopefully, the free flowing of
information on the internet will help make that possible.

The
important thing to learn here is that no government is going to give
you freedom. Every organization acts out of its own self-interest, so
you can't depend on it to act in your interest. You can't control or
convince other people or institutions to give you freedom. But the good
news is that you don't need a government's permission to obtain
freedom, for it has no power over you unless you give away your power
to it. Governments control people in fact, by convincing people to give
up their power and freedom. But you don't have to fall for that.
You can take back your sovereignty, for the only life you have control
over is your own. No one else does. To help you learn how to free your
mind and life, overcome the social programming traps and false
assumptions ingrained into you, I highly recommend the late Harry
Browne's ebook "How I Found True Freedom in an Unfree World." You can
get it from HarryBrowne.org.

Thanks for
reading.

Sincerely,

Winston Wu

PS - If
you wish to start down the path of
becoming a freethinking intellectual, as we have, let me warn you first
though,
that it comes with consequences as well as benefits. (Though it may not
be a
conscious choice on your part, but rather a realization of what you
already
are) By becoming one, you will certainly have a richer inner life that
others
don't have, and you will be able to see and know things at a depth and
level
that common people can't. You will also attain the freedom to rise
above the
programming and conditioning of society, which the common person didn't
even
know existed. You will be able to see things the way they really are,
rather
than how you were programmed to.

However,
you will find it hard to fit into
social groups and circles, for deep down an intellectual does not like
to
"conform" to something, for conformity is the antithesis of
freethought. Also, you will find yourself looking down on common
people, who
are usually conformists and follow the pack, as ignorant sheeple do, so
you
will not really feel like you belong or fit in with them. To you,
common people
will seem like zombies. Thus it will be hard for you to remain modest,
as pride
and snobbiness may become part of your disposition.

You may
find yourself often estranged from
others, engaging them merely for superficial greetings or socializing.
This
means that you will find few people in life who can truly relate to
you. Even
the ignorant can sense vibes on an instinctual level, and they will
sense that
you are somehow “different” than them, vibrating at a
different frequency.
However, since like attracts like, you will certainly find others like
you from
time to time, through circumstances and coincidences. But you will not
be
connecting with the majority.

In
addition, being able to see things that others
can't and know things that others don't, you will find yourself annoyed
at
flaws and discrepancies that others don't get hung up on. Sometimes
"ignorance is bliss" after all. Others may perceive you as "anal
retentive" for noticing imperfections that don't matter to them.

An expat
friend of mine, also a freethinker,
had this to say about the life of a freethinker:

“Why would the
government want to properly
educate the masses? They would lose their power in government cause
then the
average person would be able to see all their lies and fallacies. They
realize
a small percentage will break out of their matrix and they will either
be
ostracized from main society or they will be brought into the circle of
power
as one of their own.

To be able to break away
from either of those
labels takes a strong sense of purpose and some kind of divine
intervention
that was agreed upon before birth and intertwined into ones life. There
are
always people like this that break the mold, but society generally
doesn't
realize their greatness until they have departed the Earth plane.
Individuals
that are well ahead of whatever is going on in society are the ones
that keep
society moving forward, but are often ridiculed in the process of
trying to
make others see the light. Most people do not have the capability to
visualize
what the future will bring, or they do it wrong cause they interpret
the future
using their current preconceived notions of reality.

A true visionary sets
themselves apart from the
mainstream and isn't offended by brash comments upon their
person.”

That being
said, if you seek to find an
intellectual majority or population, your best chance, in my
experience, would
be in Europe, where knowledge, culture, education and broad-mindedness
seem to
be at the highest levels.

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